Hello!
As I mentioned, I am in the process of renovating my new (from 1909) house. On the upper floor, the previous occupants removed a long wall to create more space. I've noticed that the ceiling slopes slightly and it looks like the ceiling panel is bowing inward. A friend of mine said he thought it was a load-bearing wall. Can this be fixed afterwards? Can it be supported with a beam or something similar to "jack" the slope back up? I have a feeling it will slope more and more each year, or what will happen?
Best regards,
Nip
As I mentioned, I am in the process of renovating my new (from 1909) house. On the upper floor, the previous occupants removed a long wall to create more space. I've noticed that the ceiling slopes slightly and it looks like the ceiling panel is bowing inward. A friend of mine said he thought it was a load-bearing wall. Can this be fixed afterwards? Can it be supported with a beam or something similar to "jack" the slope back up? I have a feeling it will slope more and more each year, or what will happen?
Best regards,
Nip
If it was a load-bearing wall, it can be extremely dangerous not to address it. However, old houses are rarely straight.
There are some solutions to reinforce the absence of a wall. Which one suits you is hard to say without having seen the house.
1. Glulam beam
2. Steel beam
3. New wall
But for heaven's sake, find out if the wall was load-bearing!
There are some solutions to reinforce the absence of a wall. Which one suits you is hard to say without having seen the house.
1. Glulam beam
2. Steel beam
3. New wall
But for heaven's sake, find out if the wall was load-bearing!
Ok thanks for this! I will ask an experienced carpenter to come and take a look.
I think the wall has been gone for about 10 years....IF it was load-bearing, shouldn't it have collapsed by now?? and I'm wondering why no inspector has pointed this out..Now I'm a little more worried...GULP!..
Thanks for the answer though!
Best regards Nip
I think the wall has been gone for about 10 years....IF it was load-bearing, shouldn't it have collapsed by now?? and I'm wondering why no inspector has pointed this out..Now I'm a little more worried...GULP!..
Thanks for the answer though!
Best regards Nip
Yes, as mentioned, the risk could be that it collapses if there's an abnormal snow load on the outer roof. But can't you open up the inner ceiling so you can access the rafters/rafter and reinforce these/build on. There are several ways to go about it, so it's not a major problem to fix. It's not impossible that some kind of beam replacement was done when the wall was removed, but apparently, it was under-dimensioned.
As mentioned, 10 years is no guarantee for anything. Look at all the snelador standing in any weather; they may be "standing," but that's about it. Next year they might be on the ground. Having a guy to check it all out costs so little in comparison 
Inspectors miss a lot. Their eyes are sharper than ours when they take a quick look at houses, but not better than what you can see once you've lived in it for a while and have been able to compare and notice more.
Hope there's no danger for you so that it gets resolved! Good luck!
Inspectors miss a lot. Their eyes are sharper than ours when they take a quick look at houses, but not better than what you can see once you've lived in it for a while and have been able to compare and notice more.
Hope there's no danger for you so that it gets resolved! Good luck!